Cushioning means for railroad car



Dec. 26, 1967 J. E. GUTRIDGE CUSHIONING MEANS FOR RAILROAD CAR 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Aug. 31, 1965 INVENTOR I JACK EGUTRIDGE Dec. 26, 1967 J. E. GUTRIDGE 3,359,924

CUSHIONING MEANS FOR RAILROAD CAR Original Filed Aug. 31, 1965 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR JACK E. GUTRIDGE Om m All On on Q8 J. E. GUTRIDGE CUSHIONING MEANS FOR RAILROAD CAR Dec. 26, 1967 8 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed Aug. 31, 1965 b .l m m m y w \Bm fi in 2 mm m aq 4 mm 8X36 I'NVENTOR JACK E. GUTRIDGE a w as wm w. 2 a .4 NF? om a N o a? f Nw NA w ATT'Y Dec. 26, 1967 J. E. GUTRIDGE 3,359,924

CUSHIONINGMEANS FOR RAILROAD CAR Original Filed Aug. 51, 1965 v s Sheets- Sheet 4 INVENTOR JACK E. GUTRIDGE AT T'Y Dec. 26, 1967 J. E. GUTRIDGE CUSHI'ONING MEANS FOR RAILROAD CAR 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 7 Original Filed Aug. 51, 1965 O 2 l l m 0 0 J 2 a O I. 5E? 55F... l-

m o 2 r v 4 1 z a m m m I IN VEN TOR JACK E. GUTRIDGE ATT'Y Dec. 26, 1967 J. E. GUTRIDGE CUSHIONING MEANS FOR RAILROAD CAR 8 Sheets-Sheet 6 Original Filed Au fsl, 1965 3? W m g5 on M i 53 6 8 I INVENTOR JACK E. GUTR/DGE MAW v ATTY w IN w 1 WW A w m8 EN EN Dec. 26, 1967 J. E. GUTRIDGE 3,359,924

CUSHIONING MEANS FOR RAI LROAD CAR Original Filed Aug. 31, 1965 8 Shecs-Sheec 8 INVENTOR JACK E. GUTRIDGE ATT'Y United States Patent 3,359,924 CUSHIONING MEANS FOR RAILROAD CAR Jack E. Gutridge, Dyer, Ind., assignor to Pullman Incorporated, Chicago, 11]., a corporation of Delaware Original application Aug. 31, 1965, Ser. No. 484,059, now Patent No. 3,319,583, dated May 16, 1967. Divided and this application Oct. 18, 1965, Ser. No. 497,268

18 Claims. (Cl. 105-454) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A resilient unit between movable parts of a railroad car or the like for cushioning the car lading against buff and draft forces comprising a yoke member connected to the car body and a pair of reciprocally disposed interconnected tubular members being reciprocally connected with the yoke and resilient or spring-like means entrained between the yoke and the one member and between each of the members for allowing expansion of the resilient unit upon extension of the yoke outwardly of the one tubular member and for compression of the resilient means upon movement of one member into the other member with a consequent contraction of the resilient unit in response to buff and draft forces whereby the resilient unit disposed between the movable car portions may occupy less space.

This invention relates to an improved railroad car and in particular relates to a car having a car body mounted upon a body supporting and force transmitting means for longitudinal movement with respect to said means whereby the car body has its ends mounted over the bolster supports and its central portion disposed over the force transmitting means.

This application is a division of my co-pending application, Ser. No. 484,059, filed Aug. 31, 1965, now Patent No. 3,319,583.

A prime object of this invention is to provide a railroad car that has a high lading carrying capacity and yet has its top portion sufficiently low and within the proper tolerances to clear overhead bridges, tunnels and the like.

A further object of this invention is to provide a railroad car that is of high container lading carrying capacity in that the car can carry six containers instead of four, resulting in fifty percent increase in carrying capacity by providing for a car well portion extending between and below the car bolsters and whereby force transmitting elements are intercoupled with and guided relative to the car well portion and connect with the bolsters and wherein cushioning means is provided between the car couplers and the car body for absorbing the shock of impact of draft forces.

Another object of this invention is to provide fora car construction where the car bolsters slidably support the ends of the car body and whereby a pair of side flexible ribbon elements connect with the bolsters and lie in the plane of the car coupler assembly, the central portion of the car body having guide means in the lineof said forces embracing and stabilizing the side ribbon elements for longitudinal movement of the bolsters relative to the body.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved railroad car wherein the car body has an open top and bottom and carries container means having container tie holding means holding the containers to the body for lateral reinforcement of the car body by the containers.

Another object of this invention is to provide for a railroad car having a lightweight body construction car- 3,359,924 Patented Dec. 26, 1967 "ice ried by the bolsters and having side ribbon elements whereby the containers in the body give the body lateral stability and strength and the ribbon elements are contained by the body.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a novel draft sill construction for a railroad car wherein the draft sill is provided with a body supporting bolster and an outrigger and diagonal force transmitting members that connect between the central draft sill portion and outrigger which are connected to and vertically and laterally support the side ribbon elements to allow the buff forces to be transmitted simultaneously to the bolsters and through the force transmitting members to the flexible slide ribbon members.

Another object of this invention is to provide a car body construction having a central well portion that extends below the line of draft forces and elevated car body end sections separated from the central portion by bulkheads whereby the top of the car body is open to receive containers and the central well portion and the end sections being separate compartments and the central well compartments being able to hold one container or several containers in end-to-end relation and in vertically stacked relation.

It is another object of this invention to provide for a railroad car having a pair of end bolsters interconnected by a pair of side ribbon members, and a car body slidably mounted on the bolsters and having a central depressed car body portion or well having cushioning means connecting with the bolsters lying generally in the plane of the ribbon sill and the plane of draft and between the car body well in a confined tolerance limited area, the cushioning means having a limited extension to provide for travel of the car body relative to the car bolsters for increased body length.

Another object of this invention is to provide for a railroad car having a car body with its end sections mounted over the bolsters and having a central depressed car body portion or Well, the lower end of which has guide means slidably connected with side compression and tension ribbon members connecting with the bolsters, and cushioning means connecting between the car body well and the bolster portion of the draft sill in the plane of the ribbon sill and the draft forces imparted to the car.

Still another object of this invention is to provide for a car under carriage or beam network comprising a pair of end draft sills with bolsters and Outriggers and a pair of flexible side members connecting with the outriggers and having diagonal tie means extending from the center of draft sill to the flexible members to define a path for the draft forces from the draft sills to the bolsters and from the diagonal tie means to the flexible members.

It is another object of this invention to provide for a railroad car having a car body slidably mounted on a car body support means with guide means intercoupling the support means with the car body generally in the plane of the draft forces, and container means disposed within said car body and the body having container indexing means and container hold down or tie means connecting the body with the containers to provide a rigiditying reinforcing car body structure between the bolsters.

A further object is to provide a novel cushioning unit for a railroad car between the car body and the car under- I e n n frame Wl'llCh contracts in one direction and expands in the other direction to allow for dimensional tolerances between the car body and the car underframe resulting in greater lading storage space for the car body and still meet the clearance requirements for the railroad industry. These and other objects will become apparent from references to the following disclosure including the description, appended claims and attached drawings where- FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the railway car including containers shown in phantom line;

FIG. 2 is an exploded View in side elevation of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a view of the invention taken along line 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the invention taken along line d4 of FIGURE 2;

FIG. 4a is a perspective view of the container tie down and indexing means shown in FIGURE 4;

FIG. 4b is a perspective view of indexing means shown in FIGURE 4;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the car body support construction of my novel invention;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 66 of FIGURE 5;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 77 of FIGURE 5;

FIG. 8 is a partial transverse section taken at the bolster of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a partial transverse sectional view taken at a car body upright post;

FIG. 10 is a view taken along line 1010 of FIG- URE 1;

FIG. 11 is a perspective View of the lower portion of FIGURE 10;

FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along line 1212 of FIGURE 2;

FIG. 13 is an enlarged partial view of the container holding means shown in FIGURE 12;

FIG. 14 is a container holding and indexing means shown in FIGURE 12; 1

FIG. 15 is a side elevational view of the cushioning means of my invention;

FIG. 16 is a sectional plan view of the cushioning means;

FIG. 17 is a plan view of the draft sill and draft gear of my invention;

FIG. 18 is a sectional perspective view of the draft gear, and draft sill of my novel invention;

FIGS. 19, 20 and 21 are cross-sectional views of the novel cushioning device in various positions and showing the hydraulic cushioning structure therefor; and

FIG. 22 is an exploded view illustrating the various components of the novel cushioning device.

With reference now to the drawings, there is shown a railroad car 2 that is provided with a body support means or carriage 4 upon which is slidably mounted a body or superstructure 6. A bufr' or shock absorbing means in the form of a cushioning unit 8 is connected between the body 6 and the supportmeans or under carriage beam network 4 toward one end of the car and toward the other end of the car 2, a return spring 8a is connected between the body 6 and the carriage or support structure 4. It is to be appreciated that the cushion unit 8 may be replaced by a spring 8a or the spring 8a may be replaced by a cushioning unit 8 so long as there is provided resilient means for absorbing the shocks transmitted from the support structure 4 to the body 6 and whereby resilient means will return the body 6 to its proper or predetermined position on the underframe 4.

The body 6 is normally centered on the underframe 4, the one-half of the car being a mirror image of the other one-half of the car 2 about a vertical plane extending through the central longitudinal axis x-x of the railroad car. Similarly, the car is bi-laterally symmetrical with respect to the central transverse axis yy of the car. Since the car presents by-lateral symmetry along its xx or y-y axis, similar reference characteristics are applied to similar parts on the opposed sides of the planes passing through these axes.

The carriage 4 generally comprises a pair of opposed draft sills 10, 10 at opposite ends of the car and along the longitudinal axis x-x. Beneath and at the end of each sill 10 is disposed a truck 12 of four-wheel sets 12a. The body support bolsters 14, 14 are connected to and disposed over the trucks 12 and are welded to the draft sills 10, 10. Each bolster 14 is connected with the other by a pair of laterally disposed longitudinally extending flexible side ribbon force transmitting members 16, 16 and between each bolster and the respective end of the car is an outrigger or cross member 14a integrated with the respective draft sill '10 and connected to diagonal and longitudinal members 16, 72. The body or superstructure 6 comprises a beam network body framework 18 mounted over the bolsters 14, 14 for reciprocable longitudinal movement with respect thereto. The body framework 18 is composed of laterally opposed sidewalls 20, 20 longitudinally opposed end walls 22, 22 and a bottom area 24 having a central well area 240 and end bottom area 24b, 24b. It is, therefore, seen that the framework 18 has a central portion 26 defining a well 28 extending below the line of car draft DD and a pair of elevated end sections 30, 30, the bottom of which lie generally above the line of draft DD (see FIG. 2.) At the central portion 26, each sidewall section 20 is provided with a bottom body beam structure 32 which is provided with a guide means 34 (FIG. 9) to reciprocably receive therethrough a respective side beam 16. The outer laterally opposed ends of each bolster are each provided with a pair of rollers 36, 36 over which the skeletal sidewall sections 38, 38 of each skeletal sidewall 20, 20 slidably roll over the rollers 36. Container means are disposed within the body 6 generally over the car bottom area, the container means comprising two long container units 40 (FIG. 1) disposed within the well 28, one unit 40 being on top of another unit 40 and one shorter container 42 being stored within each elevated end section 30; or four short containers 42 may be disposed within the well 28 instead of two long containers 40, as shown in FIG. 2. The container means are guided into the car body and tied thereto by indexing and tie down or holding means to be described later.

The car carriage 4 is provided with a pair of couplers 50 at the outer ends of each of the draft sills 10. Each draft sill 10 is of conventional Z section construction and comprises a pair of longitudinally extending upright side plates 52 that oppose one another, each angle plate 52 having a long leg 52a and a short leg 52a, a top portion 54. Each stabilizing cross member or outrigger 14a (see FIG. 7) comprises a top 56 that is welded on top of the draft sill and extends transversely of the draft sill 10, and includes a horizontal portion 56a and two diagonal portions 56b; a cross member bottom plate 58 having a horizontal section 58a welded to the short legs 52b of the draft sill, and laterally extending diagonal sections 58b; and a pair of cross member triangularly shaped web sections 60 recessed within the top and bottom plates 56, 58. The bolster 14 (see FIG. 6) which is disposed inwardly of the outrigging support 14a at the inward terminal portion of the draft sill 10 comprises a bolster flat top plate or cover plate 62 and a bolster bottom cover plate 64 which is of a fish belly design and has a flat horizontal plate section 64a welded to the draft sill leg sections 52a, 52a, 52b opposed diagonal plate sections 64b, and outer lateral and horizontal plate sections 640, and two opposed laterally extending web sections 68 recessed within the top and bottom plates 62, 64 having a fish belly contour with inner diagonal form and outer rectangular form merged with one another in conventional bolster construction, the legs 52a, 52b, 52b of the drafts sill and the top 54 being Welded to the outer of the two bolster webs 68. Longitudinally extending, laterally disposed cover end plates 69 are retained within and at the outer ends of the bolster 14 for receiving roller shafts 70 carrying the rollers 36. The bolster bottom plate 64a has a center plate which is pivotally connected to the bolster of the trucks 12. A pair of rectangularly shaped tie members or force transmitting members 72 are attached to support blocks 76 (see FIGS. 7 and 17) mounted on each draft sill side plate 52 and extend diagonally outwardly and forwardly where they are attached to a respective outer end of the cross member 14a and to a respective ribbon member 16. Trunnion members 78 are located on the respective inner side or fish belly shaped web 68a of a respective bolster 14 for pivotal attachment with a respective eye couple of a cushioning unit 8 or a return spring unit 8a which in turn is pivotally connected to a car body 6 which is reciprocably mounted on the underframe 4 for longitudinal movement with respect thereto.

The coupler 50 is pivotally connected by pivot pin 80 (FIG. 7) to the U-shaped member or draft yoke 82 which is connected to the draft gear element 84 having a reduced outer end section 86 engageable with transverse plate 88 having gussets 90, and element 84 having outer end portions 91 engageable with plate 88 and inner end portions 92 by stop blocks 94 of draft sill in the conventional manner. The stop blocks 94 are mounted on the draft sill transverse support beam 96, the inward side of which is supported by draft sill upper end lower gussets 98 and heavy reinforcing gusset 98a, the gusset 98a being horizontally and vertically aligned with outer tie beam support blocks 76 carrying tie beams or force transmitting members 72, the members 72, 76 and 98a having their center lines on the line of draft D-D. The travel of the draft is limited between plate 88 and blocks 92 as is conventional. The outer end of the draft sill 10 has its two section plates 52 flared outwardly to permit angular movement of the couple 50. It is thus seen that draft forces or buff forces transmitted to the couple 50 and draft gear element 84 are transmitted by way of two paths, into the car underframe 4, one to the side ribbon sills 16 by way of members 94, 96, 98 and 72, the other to the cushion unit 8 as return spring unit 8a by way of draft sill portions 52 and 54 and the bolster 14. The cross member 14a gives lateral stability to the beams or members 72 and 16.

As previously mentioned, the side and end walls 20, 22 are symmetrically disposed with respect to the XX axis and the YY axis and, therefore, like components on opposite sides of vertical planes passing through these axes bear like reference characters. Now with reference to the drawings and in particular with reference to FIGS. 1 2, 3, 4, 4a, 4b, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14, each side wall comprises a conventional Pratt light panel truss of bottom member 32 being beam 100, top chord or beam 101, upright posts or beams 102, and diagonal tie tension beams 104.

The end portion of each side wall 20 defining with each other the two opposed elevated end wall sections 30 each comprising a rearwardly upwardly diverging bottom sill section or I-beam member 106, a bottom I-beam member 108 is enlarged for strengthening over the bolster, and a longitudinally extending bottom rear end member or I-beam 110, the beams 106, 108 and 110 being interconnected with one another to form the bottom outer side of the car body. A wearplate 108a (see FIG. 8), provided on the under side of the lower flange of each beam 108 for sliding engagement with each roller 36. The top outer side portions of the body at the elevated end sections 30 is provided with a horizontal longitudinally extending end beam section 112 (see FIG. 2) that is a extension of the top beam 101 and extends outwardly and to the end of the car body 6. In each elevated end section 30 each side wall section is provided with upright posts or I-beams 114, 116 and L-shaped end post 118, the center section outer end beam post 102 jointly forming with the upright post 114, the top beam section 112 and the diagonal beam 106 a trapezoid lattice provided with a diagonal tie member or strut 120; the over bolster beam 108 with its upright posts 114 and 116 and top beam section 112 forming a rectilinear lattice provided with a diagonal strut or tie member or beam 122;

the most outward upright post 118 being similarly interconnected with the top beam section 112 and with the lower end beam with a diagonal strut 124 extending from the outer end of the lower beam 110 upwardly to the juncture of the post 116 with the top beam section 112. Each of these beams are of I-beam or H-beam construction except L-shaped beam 118. Gusset plates 126 reinforce and interconnect beams 100 and 101 with the end upright posts 102 where the body elevated end sections 30 are joined with the central portion 26 having the well 28.

The two skeletal end walls 22 (see FIG. 10) each comprise a pair of outwardly diverging tie or truss members 128 of T-bar construction. These beams 128 at their lower end join with horizontal transversely extending T-beam 130. The pair of upright end posts 116 of L-shape or angle shape construction connect with the diagonal T bar beams 128, the top rear I-beam section 112 and at their bottom with the transverse T-beam 130. Each end wall 22 further comprises a pair of downwardly depending diagonal tie members 133 whose upper ends merge the outer corners of the car body with the horizontal transverse T-bar and at the lower inward ends are connected to vertical upward T-bar members 136 depending on the horizontal T-bar member 130. Between each upright end T-section member 136, at each end is provided a horizontally extending T-shape beams 138 and T-bar member 140 with diagonal ends 141. Wear plate means 134 are provided between draft sill 10 and members 136, 138 and 140.

The bottom or container horizontal support plane 24 of the car body 6 is substantially open in the area of the well 26, but the floor Well area 24a is provided with container support means in the form of a two container end supports 176 at each end of the well 24a, each support 176 being an angle beam 178, with a container seat plate 179. At the center (center post 102) of the car, there is provided an additional transverse container support 180 comprising a pair of laterally opposed longitudinally extending depending upright plates 181 and a transverse horizontal container reinforced seat structure 182. The floor 24 (see FIG. 3) at each elevated end section 30 comprises a diagonal transversely extending tie H-beam 184 at the most rearward orouter end of the car body 6, connected between beams 110 to upright posts 116 and in posed transversely extending reinforcing H-beam 186 connected between beams 110 to upright posts 116 and in parallel relation to the beam 188 that is connected between beams 114 and forms a rectangular box design with beams, 108 the rectangular box design being reinforced by diagonal tie beams 192, and lastly, there is provided transverse beam 190 connected with beams 194 that are diagonally sloping and connecting with the beams 188 to define a sloping floor. Upright diagonal criss-crossing beams 194 connect between posts 102 and floor beam 190 to define a dividing wall between each end section and the well to define 3 separate container compartments (see FIG. 4). The outer floor diagonal beam 184 at its most outer end provides a seat for the containers 42 in the elevated end section 30 as does the seat plate 196 (see FIG. 3) at the outer lateral corner at the end post 118.

Each ribbon element 16 is nestled between the lower channel or half section 34a (see FIG. 9) of the bottom beam 100 of body sill attached to upright beam 102 and channel member or strap 34b that is welded to section 34a of the bottom beam 100 to form the guide structure 34 for encasing and guiding the side ribbon members 16 of the carriage 4.

The car body 6 is provided with a plurality of container hold down and indexing members as shown particularly by FIGURES 1, 2, 3, 4, 4a, 4b, 10', 12, 13 and 14. With reference to FIGURES 2, 3 and 4 there is shown four fixed well corners container hold down unit 200 (see FIGS. 4 and 4a) each having container locking pin 201 for tying down upper containers 42 in the well 24a (see FIG. 2)

and located at the top of the car body 6 at the juncture of the well with a respective end section. Facing inward toward the well, each container hold down 2% is provided with inwardly sloping multi-index surfaces 202 for guiding a container 40 or 42 down into the well, and end sections there being four such container hold downs 200 for locating upper and lower containers within the well, inserting into the upper well container 42 for tying same down. The lower central body support 189 is provided with opposed index guide members 204 (see FIGS. 12 and 13) with opposed indexing surfaces 205 each that may be pivotally placed in the in use position as shown in the right lower corner of FIG. 12 by pivot means 265a and storage slot 2051) or may be pivoted out of position as shown in the right lower corner of FIG. 12, the indexing member 204 being in use when it is desired to slide the smaller containers 42 into the well in side by side relation as shown in FIG. 2.

Directly above indexing members 204 and atop the car body is located indexing and tie down unit 206 (see FIGS. 12 and 14) pivo-tally mounted on beam 101 being provided with angled indexing surfaces 208 for guiding the smaller containers 42 on either side of it and also is provided with four projections 210 which project from plate 212 for registering in the bottom of the top well container 42 and in the top of the bottom well container 42 as seen in FIGURES 2 and 14, the hold down and indexing member being mounted on plate 214 and being pivoted out of use position as shown in FIG. 12 (upper right hand corner) and into use position as shown in FIG. 12. Indexing members 216 (see FIGS. 4 and 4b) are also disposed atop each of the container support members 176 (see FIG. 4) at opposite ends of the top of the car body 4 (see FIG. 1) and at the corner tops of the end sections 30 for guiding of the containers into the car body. Container seat means 218 (see FIG. 8) at inner end of end sections (see FIG. 2) and at right outer corner and (see FIG. 10) are also provided for container 42. Car body tie means 220 in the form of a Z-shaped plate is secured atop bolster 14 and disposed over lower flange of car body beam 168 adjacent wear plates 108a to limit vertical movement of the body relative to the body support structure 4 (see FIG. 8).

With reference now particularly to FIGS. 15-22, the cushioning unit 8 is attached between with the bolster 14 by bolster apertured trunnion 78, pin 222, and aperture cushioning end plate 224 and with the beam 190 of the body by body apertured trunnion 78b, pin 228 and aperture cushioning end plate 230. The cushioning unit 8 is constructed to expand or contract up to a specific distance and this permits the well 28 to be of greater longitudinal extent with the cushioning unit being attached to that part of the car body 26 that is outwardly of the car well 28. Heretofore, cushioning units have had a travel of certain distance in either direction outwardly of the cushioning unit whereas this particular cushioning unit will travel or expand only a maximum of specified distance outwardly in one direction but will contract. Should a force be transmitted from the draft sill 10 at the end of the car opposite where the cushioning unit 8 is mounted, the force will transfer substantially along the flexible ribbon element and the car body will tend to move relative to the bolsters 14. This will cause the yoke mem her 246 to move outwardly or to the left as reviewed in FIG. 20, a specific distance, say inches, expanding the overall length of the cushioning to a distance 20 inches in excess of that shown by FIG. 15 or'l9, i.e. as shown in FIG. 20. If, however, a force is transmitted at that end of the draft sill 10 closest the cushioning unit, the buff force will be directed substantially from the draft sill 10 directly into the cushioning unit 8 without going through the portion of side ribbon elements 16 inwardly of the bolsters 14 and this will cause plate 230 to compress the cushioning unit with a resultant contraction of the cushioning unit of a specific length, say 20 inches, less (see FIG.

21) than that shown in FIG. 15 which is the normal extended position when no draft buff forces are being imposed upon the cushioning unit. It is, therefore, seen that this construction of the cushioning unit requires less space and the well portion 28 of the body, therefore, may be of greater longitudinal extent. This type of cushioning unit will also be applicable to a return spring construction as that shown by the return spring unit 8a, the only difference being that the cushioning unit 8 is provided with a hydraulic cushioning arrangement as shown by US. Patent No. 3,003,436 and the return spring unit 8a is not provided with such a hydraulic unit containing hydraulic fluid for absorbing shock loads but with a compressed spring 2'71. The purpose of the return spring is merely to re-center the body with respect to the bolster 14 after impact but the cushioning unit 8 has the additional function of absorbing the shock loads through a hydraulic medium.

With reference now to the specific construction shown in FIGS. 15 through 20, the unit 8 (or unit 8a without the hydraulic unit) comprises a four walled rectangular shaped outer housing 234 having an open end 235 and reciprocably disposed with respect to a second four walled rectangular shaped inner housing 236 having an open end 237 and having closed end 2370 mounting member 224 and having its wall portions 238 extending within the housing 234. The outer housing or casing 234 is generally rectangular in cross section and has an outer substantially closed end 246 provided with a transverse horizontal slot 242 through which extend a pair of opposed longitudinally extending elements 244 of a yoke unit 246, which, elements 244 at their outer 248 ends are fixed on a vertical plate or stop 250 having the vertical centrally located lug or plate 236 for connection with the car frame member the other apertured ends 252 of the elements 244 being connected with one another by a transverse pin means or abutment 254 engageable with spring seat 256 of hydraulic unit member or cylinder 260 within housing 236 which is in turn in housing 234 and carries a pair of guide members 262 that ride along the outside surfaces of the second housing 236 which wall portions 238 are provided with a pair of longitudinally extending slots for reciprocation of the pin 254 with respect to the housing 236. The internal housing 236 is provided with stops 265 against which plate 266 is held by spring seat 256, a plunger or piston guide shaft 268 abuts the outer end wall 240 of the first housing 234 inside thereof and is provided with a spring seat 270 thereat and extends approximately the whole length of the housing 234 and reciprocably into member 260. A compression spring 271 extends about both members 260 and 268 and extends the cushioning unit in the normal position (see FIG. 15 or 19) seating against the seat 270 in the first housing 234 and the seat 256 in the second housing 236. Removable keeper means 272 in the form of a pin means 274 in apertured end 235 of housing 234 and stops 276 mounted on housing 236 prevent the housings 236 and 234 from separating from one aonther.

The hydraulic mechanism for the cushioning unit 8 comprises the tubular piston rod 268 having a piston guide member 282 disposed within the tubular cylinder 260 and carrying a hydraulic fluid containing boot 280 and having piston head 284 and provided with ports 292 communicating with orifice 294 in the piston head 284 which orifice communicates with the interior of the cylinder 260 which contains a metering pin 290 to control the flow of hydraulic fluid between the boot 280 and the hydraulic cylinder 260, as disclosed in the US. Patent No. 3,003,436 to W. H. Peterson granted on Oct. 10, 1961, for absorbing the shock of buff forces with the contracting and extending of the cushion unit 8 as aforesaid.

When the draft or buff forces are transmitted through the side ribbon sills 16, as discussed above, the cushion unit 8 leaves its neutral position as shown in FIGS. 15 and 16 to solid lines as shown in FIG. 19, because of the relative movement between the bolster 14 and the car body 26 causing the cushioning unit to extend, the yoke member 246 moving outwardly of the housing 234 with the result that resilient means or spring 271 is compressed with the hydraulic mechanism absorbing the shock. When the draft or buff forces are transmitted from the bolster 14 directlyto the cushioning unit 8, the smaller housing 236 moves further inwardly into the larger housing 234 compressing the resilient means or spring 271 with the hydraulic mechanism absorbing the shock.

If the distance between the centers of the car trucks is increased, the Width of the car must be decreased if it is to meet standard width clearances on curves and, therefore, the width of the car well. In order to maintain car capacity, the containers could be higher but this presents overhead clearance problems. The trucks center to center distance is especially critical on railroad curves where the width clearance of the car is most reduced and the American Association of Railroads standards must be maintained, which is approximately a maximum of 60 feet between truck centers. Yet the container height must be kept as low as possible. This invention provides for recessing the car body or having a novel car well which allows maintenance of car carrying capacity 'with maximum distance between the trucks centers and meeting the necessary car width clearance and overhead clearance requirementspThe most desirable location for a car cushioning device is between the bolster or truck connection and the car body end wall structure. The amount of space for this location is the distance between the trucks less the car container well length. It is therefore desired to have the maximum travel of the cushioning unit within the smallest pocket or space. This invention provides for more cushion travel of the cushioning unit without having to cut down on the length of the car well.

The container means are connected to the car body and, therefore, the container means support and reinforce the car body. As shown in FIG. 14, the tie down unit 206 that is pivotally mounted on the beam 101 of the central portion 26 of the car body 6 has its vertically extending lugs or projections 210 extending through slots 210a of the smaller containers 42, each slot 210a being elongated longitudinally of the car body to allow for movement of the projection 210 longitudinally of the car but the lateral width of the slot 210a is approximately the same in length as the lateral width of the projection 210 substantially preventing lateral or transverse movement of the container 42 with respect to the side walls 20 of the car body.

It is, therefore, seen that a novel railroad car is presented herein, wherein the car has a car body support means connecting with a car body through a novel cushioning unit or return device, the car body being slidably supported at its ends on the support means bolsters and being guided longitudinally between flexible side ribbon elements that are connected with the support means cross member that has ties connecting with the draft sill carrying the cross member and the bolster, and whereby the central position of the car body extends below the coupler line of draft to define a well area disposed between the cushioning or return units, and whereby the body is provided with an open top for carrying containers of different sizes in the fore and aft end sections and in the well, the body being provided with means for guiding the containers into the body and locking the containers to the body, and whereby the body is interlocked with the side ribbon elements, the cushioning unit being so constructed as to permit greater longitudinal extent to the Well.

The foregoing description and drawings are given merely to explain and illustrate the invention and the invention 'is not to be limited thereto, except in so far as the appended claims are so limited, since those skilled in the art who have this disclosure before them will be able to make modifications and variations therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A resilient unit for a railroad car or the like having relatively movable portions, said unit including first and second intercoupled overlapping members telescoping within one another in generally the same longitudinal plane and a yoke having one end part in generally said same plane and in overlapping reciprocal relation thereto, the other end part of said yoke being adapted to be connected to one of the movable car portions and forming the means of connecting one of the intercoupled members of the resilient unit with one of the car portions and means adapted to connect the other one of the intercoupled members of the resilient unit to the other car portion, a retainer means seated within each of the intercoupled members, resilient means contained between and engaging the retainer means for biasingly urging the members outwardly of one another, said one member having means for having said one yoke part being extendable outwardly of the one member for increasing the length of the unit and having the other yoke part engageable with the resilient means for biasingly urging the yoke outwardly of the retainer means of the one member, whereby when the resilient unit is subjected to stress in one direction the resilient means is compressed between said other part of the yoke and the retainer means of the one member thereby elongating the resilient unit and when subjected to stress in the other direction the resilient means is compressed between each of the retainer means thereby contracting said resilient unit.

2. The invention according to claim 1 and each of said members comprising a tubular element, one tubular member being reciprocally disposed about the other tubular member at one end thereof and at the other end thereof being adjacent said one yoke part.

3. The invention according to claim 1 and each of said members being tubularly disposed about the resilient means and said one yoke part being adjacent the outer end of said one member and having the other yoke part in engagement with said resilient means within said other tubular member and said yoke having arm portions inwardly of said one tubular member and connecting each yoke part.

4. The invention according to claim 1 and said retainer being generally disposed at the end of said one member that is adjacent said one part of the yoke and said other retainer of said other member being disposed intermediate the ends of said other member.

'5. The invention according to claim 1 and said yoke having a pair of arm means disposed longitudinally of said unit and outwardly of said resilient means and connecting each part of said yoke for compressing said resilient means attendant to moving said resilient means in a direction away from said other retainer while extending the yoke outwardly of the one member attendant to expanding the resilient unit.

6. The invention according to claim 1 and said other member having a slotted portion to allow reciprocation of the other yoke part with respect to the said other member.

7. The invention according to claim 5 and said other tubular member having a slotted portion to allow reciprocation of the yoke arm means with respect to the said other member.

8. The invention according to claim 7 and said other member having an open end portion for reciprocation of the yoke arm means through said one member, the yoke arm means being connected to one another by said other yoke part Within said other member for attendant engagement and contraction of said resilient means.

9. The invention according to claim 1 and said interconnected telescoping members being provided with cooperating keeper means to limit movement of one member away from the other.

10. The invention according to claim 1 and each of said members having intercoupling wall portions limiting outward movement of one member relative to the other and said yoke having arm means for coupling the yoke parts together, said yoke arm means being in transverse plane relationship with respect to said interconnecting walls of the members for limiting relative rotational twisting movement of the yoke with respect to the other member, said other member having track means receiving said yoke arm means and guiding the arm means in limiting rotational twisting movement of the yoke With respect to the other member, said one member being reciprocally disposed about the other member and urged toward the one yoke part by said resilient means.

I l. The invention according to claim 1 and said resilient means comprising compression spring means engageable with each of said retainers attendant to moving the one member relative to the other for expanding of the resilient unit.

12. The invention according to claim 1 and each of said members having intercoupling wall portions limi ing outward movement of one member relative to the other and said yoke having arm means for coupling the yoke parts together, said yoke arm means being in transverse plane relationship with respect to said interconnecting Walls of the members for limiting relative rotational twisting movement of the yoke with respect to the other member.

13. The invention according to claim 1 and said one member being reciprocally disposed about the other member and urged toward the one yoke part by said resilient means.

14. The invention according to claim 1 and said one member being reciprocally disposed about said other member and said yoke means having arm portions interconnecting the yoke parts, said other yoke part being disposed within the other member and the arm portions extending from the other member through said first member to said one yoke part.

15. The invention according to claim 1 and said other part of the yoke forming a seat for said resilient means in extending said one yoke part outwardly of said one member.

16. The invention according to claim 1 and said other part of the yoke within the other telescoping member being located generally at said other retainer in said other member.

17. The invention according to claim 1 and said other yoke part forming a seat for said resilient means and said other retainer providing a passage to allow said yoke seat to pass in a reciprocal manner longitudinally along said other member.

18. The invention according to claim 17 and said other member having a slotted portion to allow said yoke to reciprocate relative to said other member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,741,651 12/1929 OConnor 213 2,726,773 12/1955 Fitz John 213-43 2,909,292 10/ 1959 Henrikson 21343 2,915,198 12/1959 Spencer 21343 3,171,546 3/1965 Frederick 21343 3,216,592 11/1965 Peterson et al 213-43 3,265,222 8/ 1966 Goldman 213-43 ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner.

DRAYTON E. HOFFMAN, Examiner. 

1. A RESILIENT UNIT FOR A RAILROAD CAR OR THE LIKE HAVING RELATIVELY MOVABLE PORTIONS, SAID UNIT INCLUDING FIRST AND SECOND INTERCOUPLED OVERLAPPING MEMBERS TELESCOPING WITHIN ONE ANOTHER IN GENERALLY THE SAME LONGITUDINAL PLANE AND YOKE HAVING ONE END PART IN GENERALLY SAID SAME PLANE AND IN OVERLAPPING RECIPROCAL RELATION THERETO, THE OTHER END PART OF SAID YOKE BEING ADAPTED TO BE CONNECTED TO ONE OF THE MOVABLE CAR PORTIONS AND FORMING THE MEANS FOR CONNECTING ONE OF THE INTERCOUPLED MEMBERS OF THE RESILIENT UNIT WITH ONE OF THE CAR PORTIONS AND MEANS ADAPTED TO CONNECT THE OTHER ONE OF THE INTERCOUPLED MEMBERS OF THE RESILIENT UNIT TO THE OTHER CAR PORTION, A RETAINER MEANS SEATED WITHIN EACH OF THE INTERCOUPLED MEMBERS, RESILIENT MEANS CONTAINED BETWEEN AND ENGAGING THE RETAINER MEANS FOR BIASINGLY URGING THE MEMBERS OUTWARDLY OF ONE ANOTHER, SAID ONE MEMBER HAVING MEANS FOR HAVING SAID ONE YOKE PART BEING EXTENDABLE OUTWARDLY OF THE ONE MEMBER FOR INCREASING THE LENGTH OF THE UNIT AND HAVING THE OTHER YOKE PART ENGAGEABLE WITH THE RESILIENT MEANS FOR BIASINGLY URGING THE YOKE OUTWARDLY OF THE RETAINER MEANS OF THE ONE MEMBER, WHEREBY WHEN THE RESILIENT UNIT IS SUBJECTED TO STRESS IN ONE DIRECTION THE RESILIENT MENAS IS COMPRESSED BETWEEN SAID OTHER PART OF THE YOKE AND THE RETAINER MEANS OF THE ONE MEMBER THEREBY ELONGATING THE RESILIENT UNIT AND WHEN SUBJECTED TO STRESS IN THE OTHER DIRECTION THE RESILIENT MEANS IS COMPRESSED BETWEEN EACH OF THE RETAINER MEANS THEREBY CONTRACTING SAID RESILIENT UNIT. 